The Final Art Cards

Here is the last set of the remaining 6 art cards. Remember these cards are part of the  #365somethings2018 project on Instagram, where I hoped, and now have, ended up with 365 cards, one for each day of 2018. If you want to see them appear individually each day, you can find them all on   my Instagram feed.

And this is the last card, no. 365, posted to Instagram this morning. This project will leave me with lovely memories. It was lots of work, both making and posting the cards but it has also been another learning curve and progressed me in my art making. I won't be doing something like this again any time soon. In fact I have no plans for 2019 as yet other than to take it a bit easier!

Many thanks to all who have followed me in this journey both here and on Instragram and Facebook. I am very grateful for all the comments and support!

Wishing you all a peaceful and artful 2019

The Stencilfied Journal Prompt 21

Prompt 21 for #thestencilfiedjournal asked us to used numbers 1, 2, 3.... and for some reason I immediately thought of the battle cry of The Prisoner: " I am not a number, I am a free man" (or woman, of course!). The Prisoner was a tv series way back when in the 60s and yes, I remember watching it then. And I wouldn't mind watching it all over again. It seems as pertinent for the world today as it was originally. So I embraced this opportunity to put the quotation in my art journal (sized 9 x 14cm).

The background was done using the medium stencil from the December 2017 Stencilgirl®Club as well as stencil L471 Hamburg stencil designed by Nathalie Kalbach for Stencilgirl  Products®. To this mix I added rubber stamping with both a circular stamp and a stamp featuring numbers both from PaperArtsy, designed by Everything Art, as well as collage with tissuewrap (Tim Holtz) with numbers on it.

The large black words were stencilled on using Stencilgirl®'s L748 I Get to Choose stencil. Then I glued on the postage stamps with the numbers 1, 2 and 3. The final addition was the quotation that was stamped onto vintage paper using a variety of alphabet stamps.

The Stencilfied Journal Prompt Twelve

Finally it was time to decorate the outside of our #thestencilfiedjournal. I am using a 9 x 14cm Clairefontaine one from their 1951 Back to Basics range which is stitch bound. It originally had a pink Perspectives Paralleles pattern on the outside, that can still be seen vaguely through all the paint layers. I started those by using white gesso all over the pages.

The next step was to add colour using acrylic paints and the L646 Floral Mandala Lace stencil by Stencilgirl  Products®. More circular patterns were added using the small stencil from the October 2014 Stencilgirl® Club. 

 I added some acrylic inks and collaged on pieces of Tim Holtz's tissue wrap. Then I stencilling the title onto vintage paper using a mix of alphabet stamp sets.

The final step of the prompt was quite frightening and with a lot of trepidation I put my journal into the tea. I should probably admit to spraying all the inside pages with a fixative. Is that cheating?! Perhaps but I couldn't help myself. Here is the result of the soaking:

 I went for a total submersion in a bowl with teabags! It came as a bit of a shock (what did I expect?!) that the journal was totally soaked and the paper very soft inside so a lot of towels came to the rescue and the journal then spend some days in the airing cupboard with all the pages spread out in a fan shape.

As you can see the damage to the cover was minimal but the same was not completely true (completely untrue in fact!) for the inside spreads. They needed some remedial action. The main upset was that everything adhered with an archival glue stick had come undone (matte medium glued items stayed put!), so I glued them back in after salvaging them from the wet pages. But it's something I will keep in mind although I don't anticipate putting my journals in warm liquid ever again!

Art Cards 206 - 215

 Here is the next set of 9 art cards. Remember these cards are part of the #365somethings2018 project on Instagram, where I hope to end up with 365 cards, one for each day of 2018. If you want to see them appear individually each day you can find them all on my Instagram feed.

The Stencilfied Journal Prompt 8

This latest spread for #thestencilfiedjournal didn't quite turn out as planned. Personally I blame the weather! As you can tell Prompt Eight told us to stencil with glue. I immediately thought of all those foiling sheets lingering in a cupboard, and so I made the background in readiness for some foiling.

I used collage with Tim Holtz's tissue wrap as well as stamping with some art foamies designed by BalzerDesigns. Then I added stencilling with some stencils by Stencilgirl  Products® (one of the requirements of #thestencilfiedjournal project). I used the big stencil from the May 2018 Stencilgirl®Club as well as the small stencil from the October 2014 set of Club stencils.

Then I grabbed a red metallic foiling sheet and some Aleene's Tacky Glue and stencilled the circles with the glue through the large stencil from the May 2018 Club set (as above). Then as per the instructions I let the glue dry for 30 minutes. Alas, due to our highly unusual tropical conditions here in Scotland the glue was a bit too dry already by the time I applied the foiling sheet. Just as well I like a distressed look! So my circles are not perfect, but on the plus side they perfectly suit the words I found to use on the spread (in a 9 x 14cm journal).

The Stencilfied Journal Prompt 6

Prompt Six of The Stencilfied Journal told us to poke holes in the page. First I made the spread in my 9 x 14 cm journal by using paints combined with stencil L600 Mosaic Flowers Repeat by Stencilgirl  Products®. To this I added rubber stamping, collage with tissue wrap as well as vintage text relating to holes and pokes. I then added the dots (using stencil L380 Circles Layer Me) and poked them with a Japanese Punch.

 It proved to be difficult to capture the holes in a picture and above is my best effort where the garden can just be glimpsed through the openings in the page.

 The vintage text I used on the spread also refers to the prompt.

The Stencilfied Journal Prompt 4

Time for prompt 4 on #thestencilfiedjournal project. You can see it written below. All the beautiful prompts, by the way, were done by Tina Walker. It told us to use our least favourite colour. In my case that would be brown. It's just so.........well......brown.  I love it's big sister orange of which it is a shade but despite all the delicious names (usually relating to chocolate) of brown paints they very much tend to stay in the tube or bottle.

I prepped two pages in my 9 x 14cm journal with gesso and then it was time to get that brown onto the pages. As you can tell I just could not resist adding some copper (still brown in my opinion) and a wee bit of blue (the complimentary colour of orange). AFter collaging with Tim Holtz's tissue wrap I used stencil L320 Batik stencil from Stencilgirl  Products® while the white dots came from L380 Circles Layer Me stencil. Remember that all stencils we use are to be from Stencilgirl®

Our prompt also told us to write about things we love and I did so in the spirals, Then to my great delight I found the word LOVE in a magazine and it was even in brown tones. Perfect!

I just had to add a bit of sparkle to all that brownness and it came in the shape of a mica spray again using stencil L380 (see below). I can's say I have been converted to brown but on the other hand I quite like the look of it on these pages.

The Stencilfied Journal Prompt 3

Our weekly prompt (number 3 already) for #thestencilfiedjournal told us to stencil on a leaf and add it to our journal. I found a sycamore leaf during a dog walk at Cockmuir and fitted as much as possible of it onto a page of my 3.5 x 5.5" (9 x 14cm) journal. Before adding it I stencilled on it with white titanium acrylic paint, using stencil L565 Looping Leafy Vines from Stencilgirl® Products . Remember the #thestencilfiedjournal is the brainchild of Tina Walker and we are only using stencils by Stencilgirl®. The leaf was sealed with matte medium to preserve it.

The leaf was added to the background, made using the same stencil as well as collage with tissue wrap by Tim Holtz. I used a quotation by William Wordsworth that reads: "Nature never did betray the heart that loved her".

It makes for a lovely memory of a wonderful dog walk in full sunshine, specially when contemplating the rain and wind outside at the moment. On the plus side those are doing a great job distressing the page from prompt 2 that is still hanging outside my window.

The Stencilfied Journal Prompt 2

It's time for Prompt 2 on #thestencilfiedjournal project and you can see it below. I started off by making a two page spread in my 9 x 14cm journal and you can see it above. I uses rubber stamping, collage with tissue wrap as well as collage with pieces from a vintage dictionary using the words RIP and R.I.P. as a nod to our prompt.

There was of course lots of stencilling using the following stencils all from Stencilgirl®Products: L380 Circles Layer Me, M080 Repetition and the small stencil from the January 2017 Stencilgirl®Club set.

Once I was happy with the spread I did indeed rip out the right-hand page, punched a hole at the top and hung it up outside my studio window. It has been there for about a week now and it was a week with exceptionally lovely weather here in Scotland. Will have to see if those conditions last!

Below you can see the left-hand page that was left in the journal. I may have to say R.I.P. to the page outside should it be ravaged by the wind and rain in due course, but this one is safe to remind me of Prompt 2.

The Stencilfied Journal Prompt 1

I have been working away on a secret project and the first part of it can now be revealed. This is an initiative by Tina Walker, called #thestencilfiedjournal. The idea is to use a journal (choice is up to you) and work away on the weekly prompts she will reveal on Mondays for the next 16 weeks (taking us to the middle of September). I was going to work in a Field Note journal (like Tina herself) but in the end decided I wanted to use a bound journal and went for the 9 x 14 cm 1951 Back to Basics journal by Clairefontaine. They are wonderfully sturdy and the journal should be capable of everything Tina wants us to throw at it.

Above is our first prompt (as provided by Tina) and I started with a 2 page spread right in the centre of the journal meaning I can go any way I want. For extra sturdiness I also glued two pages together and gessoed heavily before I began work.

The quotation I used is by Andy Warhol and was collaged from the Flow calendar last year. For the rest I simply went circle mad. The only requirement Tina set us was to use Stencilgirl® stencils exclusively in this journal. The reason being that this is part of a project she is doing for Stencilgirl®Products.  All will be revealed as far as that is concerned later this year.

I used the following stencils for this spread: L380 Circles Layer Me and M080 Repetition.

Working in this small journal reminded me why I love changing sizes. It somehow provides new inspiration to work on a smaller scale than I usually do. You can of course follow along too and you have till next Monday before the next prompt will be revealed. If you are on Instagram you can see all submissions by following the hashtags #stencilgirl and #thestencilfiedjournal.

Veni Vidi Vici

The challenge last week for Joggles Art Journal Adventures was to use the number three, and if we wanted, use 3 words that go together. The first thing that I thought of was: "Veni vidi vici". That classical education sometimes produces starting results! This saying that means:" I came, I saw, I conquered" is usually attributed to Julius Caesar boosting after a quick victory. I could not resist incorporating the man himself in an image cut from a book I used during Classics lessons in school. A bit of nostalgia never does much harm.

The background  of this spread (done in a 9 x 9" Bee Paper Mixed Media journal) was made using the L607 Soulful Scribbles Let Go stencil designed by Traci Bautista for Stencilgirl Products. I added collage using Tim Holtz's tissue wrap  as well as rubber stamping with small round Tapestry stamps as well as a stamp from the Mish Mesh stamp set designed by Nathalie Kalbach for Stampendous.

 The focal image came from a magazine although I have no idea which one any more. I have a big box full of stuff cut from magazines and this one seemed to suit with the big eyes and glasses. The stamped eyes on the right hand page came from a set designed by Jane Davenport.

Out of the Ordinary

The prompt on Joggles Art Journal Adventures this week was to use the letter O. The saying Out of the Ordinary came to mind immediately specially as it has 3 Os! The page was started with lots of layers of stencilling using two of the newest Stencilgirl stencils designed by Traci Bautista: L609 Soulful Scribbles Unfold and L604 Spring Bloom Collage Mask 3.

Once I was happy with how that looked, I added collage with some pre-cut paper flowers as well as tissue wrap by Tim Holtz. Then I stencilled on the focal points with black paint and another stencil designed by Traci for Stencilgirl Products: S296 Deconstructed Double Zinnia Mask and Stencil.

Some outlining was done with white and black markers and then I stamped on the text using one of my favourite alphabet stamp sets. Sadly there is no info on the box as to who produced it. The size of the letters works very well in this A5 sized journal. The letters (stamped with permanent black ink pad) were also outlined with a white marker.

 I let some white ink drip down the pages and then edged them with a blue permanent ink pad.

The Labyrinths of Thought

Grids speak to me! I'm not a quilter for nothing. I made a small grid on one of my journal pages some time back,  and loved it so much that for this Stencilgirl Project I returned to making a grid on the page so I could share it. It's great to be back as Guest Designer for Stencilgirl Products this month and I hope you will enjoy my grid as much as I enjoyed making it.

As always you will find a step-by-step tutorial on the Stencilgirl Talk site today. This is the only place where I share such elaborate instructions on how I made my pages and there are other great tutorials from other wonderful Designers on a daily base there, so add it to your Favourites! You will also find a full list of all the materials I used specially the stencils.

Filling the grid lines with small white circles is a bit of work but it is also a wonderfully Zen activity and I am very keen on the finished effect. You don't have to use circles but could doodle in whatever pattern is your preference

The spread was made in an A4 Dylusions Art journal. I love the quality of the pages. They will stand up to anything.